About Us

Specialized Transportation Needs

Gresham Transfer has been serving the specialized transportation needs of our customers since 1922. With over 4,000 active customers, many of which we serve daily, our experienced staff pride themselves on customer service. We have operating authority in all 48 contiguous states, as well as Canada.

Burton Walrad, a Gresham civic leader founded Gresham transfer in 1922. The first commodities hauled were local freight and strawberries from the fields to the cannery on 8th street in Gresham. Gresham Transfer has the oldest active PUC number in Oregon, number 12. As the company grew, it began to do Van LTL freight and interline work between the east county communities and larger nationwide carriers servicing Portland.

In 1970 Gresham Transfer was purchased by Derald Ulmer. The threat of deregulation and other pressures fueled a search for a niche where Gresham Transfer could grow and expand the industries it serviced, and avoid the dogfight that was sure to come among freight haulers and would eventually lead to the demise of many of them.

In 1973 Gresham Transfer purchased its first dry bulk truck which lead to rapid growth in the Pacific Northwest transforming the companies toward new interest. A steady decline in the local freight cartage started in the later 70’s.

The operation also moved in 1978 from its original location on NE Kelly in Gresham, to a new site on NE 122nd Ave. between Sandy Blvd. and Marine Drive. Then in 1981 the heavy haul fleet was purchased from Widing Transportation giving Gresham Transfer a terminal and operations presence not only in Oregon but now in Kent, Washington.

The dry bulk fleet continued to grow and in 1989 Gresham purchased K-Lines who had been a dominant dry bulk carrier in Oregon for many years. In 1996 Fedderly Marion, a Washington based dry bulk carrier, was acquired.

The 122nd property was no longer large enough to support the operations and Gresham moved into a new facility in Wood Village, Oregon in September of 1997. In the summer of 2000 Gresham purchased Seattle based Riverside Transfer and besides being the dominant bulk carrier in Oregon it became a major player in the Puget Sound area.

Best Service Available

With trucks based in Wood Village, Baker City, Bend, Eugene, Albany, Hermiston, OR, Kent, WA and Pasco, WA. Gresham Transfer continues to expand its services and territory with the goal of providing the best service available in the dry bulk and heavy haul market.